Monday, September 13, 2010

Fool Enough To Almost Be It

Did a New York weekend. I figured Saturday would be "lug camera around" day, so Friday night when I got there, Chan and I headed to dinner in the East Village sans lens. I was aware that if I saw a celeb, I'd be powerless--no blurry pic, and worse, no Randomonium spot should I get up the courage to ask and should I deem that celeb Rando-worthy. But as we know, sometimes not having a camera allows one to witness the magic. (Besides, if you see something awesome it shouldn't matter whether you took a picture of it. And it would be dark out anyway....)

So a dude comes out of his apartment to walk his dog, and walks right past us. I immediately recognize the face. It's the Smashing Pumpkins' guitar player, James Iha. I tell Chan who we just walked by, and of course he wasn't having it. He--as an Asian himself--even deadpanned, "aw come on, we all look the same." But I was pretty sure this was Iha. I'd need to consult the web to prove it though.

My Iha had a dyed blond mop-top and a small dog. Google survey says: Bam! Still, Chan says this is too common. My Iha lived in the East Village in what we determined--after inspecting the place on our way back from dinner--was a very nice building. Google survey says: Bam! From jamesiha.org: "He currently lives in a million dollar plus single bedroom apartment in the East Village area of NYC. He occupies the same town house co-op with Chloe Sevigny (and formerly Parker Posey)."

At this point, I was fully convinced. Chan still says Asians with dyed hair in the Village with little dogs are a dime a dozen (or roughly a yen for ten).

But I knew right away it was Iha. I felt like Zack Hample getting that first batting practice ball right when you get to the ballpark. Then you can go through the rest of the weekend care-free, knowing your streak is intact. (Not that I have an actual streak going, I just mean it seems like I see a celeb every time I go to NYC. But off the top of my head....I must have a three-gamer minimum going, with Iha, Naomi Watts, Colbert--if you count going to a taping and seeing the host/guests, which of course I do, and the time before that might have been the time I saw that Twilight actor, so....) Alas, Iha would be only one this time. But that's cool because he's the man who played a lot of sweet guitar parts that I was all into in 1993. Still am, in fact--just heard "Mayonnaise" on sat. radio. Corgan wrote some great tunes at his peak.

Just wastched the Sox highlights on channel 10. I see they're still using the 2008-and-previous logo. I can't wait to see who goes to that THIRD year without noticing that the team they cover changed their logo. Anyway, 8 back of the Yanks with 6 games left against them! Still hangin' on. Bare. Ly. Late games in Seattle the next two nights.

[Postus scriptus: Got to work Monday morning, and asked my co-worker (the one who knows everyone, has been everywhere, etc) to guess which celeb I saw in NYC. I gave her a hint of "music," and her first guess, incredibly, was Billy Corgan. Nailed the right band on the first try. Also, I forgot to change the date on this post, that's why it was originally hidden below and appeared to be from late Saturday night instead of late Sunday night. Myyyy mistake.]